


stripped down

by emblems



Series: SASO2017 [11]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, M/M, The Drift (Pacific Rim), implied iwaoi maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 19:57:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12019881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emblems/pseuds/emblems
Summary: You know,Oikawa says,I had a lot of the same problems you did, at first. I thought I could pilot a Jaeger well even if I wasn't great at drifting. But then Iwaizumi taught me that a Jaeger is only as strong as the bond between pilots—not on the strength of the pilots alone.kageyama tobio can't drift with anyone—but then iwaizumi hajime gets injured, leaving thegrand kingshort one pilot.





	stripped down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thimble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thimble/gifts).



> written for saso 2017, bonus round four. 
> 
> thanks for enabling me, bent. <3

Kageyama has drifted before—in the Academy, with partners that he was supposed to match with, based on compatibility reports.   
  
It never quite ended up working out that way. He and whatever partner of the week he was on would get through the basics in the simulator—movements, fundamental combat maneuvers—but as soon as a kaiju was introduced into the environment things always had a way of falling apart.  
  
He attended every lecture with the hopes that something in them would unlock whatever it was he was missing. All he hears is a lot of talk about how the drift is one of the most profound things a pilot can experience, an intimate affair with their copilot—  
  
Kageyama snorts to himself, thinking it has to be something that's blown out of proportion.  
  
Still—he writes it down in his notebook, and his skepticism doesn't mean he can't hear his classmates talking about the drift, about experiencing it with highly compatible partner, and despite himself he feels a keen sense of longing.  
  
He doesn't need it to be a good pilot, though. Some jaegers were piloted by duos with only average to above average compatibility—it was possible. Difficult, but possible.  
  
In the background, the Jaeger Corps keeps looking for a suitable co-pilot for one of the most promising solo cadets to ever come through training.   
  
Nine months after graduating and still nothing emerges—Kageyama is sent on a number of missions with three different pilots, and though they come back from each one it's always a close call.  
  
"You're going to get someone killed out there one day!" the last one, Kindaichi, shouted at him before he stalked out of the cockpit, brushing off the concerned medics.  
  
Kageyama watched him go, uncomprehending.  
  
Tsukishima told him later, dropping a manila folder on his face and waking him up, "Anyone that looks at your drift readouts can see the problem isn't your co-pilot, or your Jaeger—it's _you._ "  
  
The next week, Marshall Nekomata calls from Tokyo, telling Kageyama's supervisors to have him airlifted to his Shatterdome.  
  
When Ukai tells him, he tells Kageyama that Nekomata mentioned something about killing two birds with one stone.  
  
Kageyama tries not to think about the widely publicized news that Iwaizumi Hajime of the _Grand King_ was recently injured in a fight with a Cat 3, leaving the near-legendary Oikawa Tooru without a co-pilot.  
  
Trying not to think about it doesn't make it any less a reality, though, and that's how he ends up in a cockpit with Oikawa two weeks later.  
  
Oikawa shoots him a sidelong look as they get hooked up. "It's just a simulator," he says, voice even. "Don't look so terrified."  
  
He isn't. Not of the simulator, at least.  
  
He's worried this drift is going to be like all the rest: a catastrophic failure.  
  
And it certainly starts that way—no sooner does Tsukishima (the only person that _has_ stuck with Kageyama through all of this, because he knows Kageyama's Jaeger and unfortunately grew to know his tendencies, making him something of an expert on Kageyama as a pilot) initiate the neural handshake that Oikawa snaps at him through the mental link.  
  
 _Stop fighting me!_  
  
"I'm not," and he realizes a moment too late he says it out loud. Oikawa stares at him, and Kageyama swears the eyeroll that follows is the most severe he's ever seen. He's defensive, and angry, and embarrassed, and he's not sure which of those things are what makes him flush—he's just glad the helmet obscures most of it.  
  
 _You're just as bad as they said,_ Oikawa says.  
  
"Just—tell me what I'm supposed to be doing," Kageyama pleads, knowing, distantly, that if this doesn't work that he'll likely never pilot a Jaeger.  
  
Before, he'd been terrified. Now, he's just desperate.  
  
 _Well, first, you have to stop talking out loud._  
  
Kageyama blinks.   
  
_You have to relax—give your mind over._  
  
"I've tried—"  
  
 _It's more than just thinking what you want to say at your co-pilot_ _,_ Oikawa says. _You have to let your entire consciousness enter the drift._  
  
"Isn't that..." Kageyama trails off. "You mean everything?"  
  
 _Everything. The Pons is hooked up to your brain, but the drift is more than just your thoughts—it's your emotions, your memories—  
  
—it's heart and soul, too._ The last part isn't Oikawa; it isn't Kageyama either, and he frowns.  
  
"Who—"  
  
 _It doesn't matter,_ Oikawa says, though there's something in his voice (or his thoughts—communication through the drift defied traditional descriptors) that betrays him. _You're doing better already, though._  
  
 _What do you mean—oh,_ Kageyama says, blinking.  
  
 _I think that's enough for today, don't you?_ Oikawa asks. "Cut the sim," he says over the comms.  
  
 _Wait—_  
  
The Jaeger techs terminate the neural handshake before Kageyama can finish.  
  
Oikawa doesn't wait for the techs to help him out of his suit—he strides out of the cockpit without a backward glance.  
  
(Much, much later that night, with a jolt, Kageyama will recognize the voice that broke in during the drift as Iwaizumi's.)  
  


* * *

  
  
They proceed like that for the next two days, only meeting in the cockpit—Oikawa never takes his meals in the mess, and Kageyama suspects he completes his daily regimen in the early morning or late hours to avoid others.   
  
In the simulator, Oikawa gives Kageyama terse instructions, every pointed suggestion like a pinprick on Kageyama's skin. He takes each one, though, and by the beginning of the third day Kageyama feels confident enough to ask: _Was that Iwaizumi's voice? The first time we drifted, I mean._  
  
The drift goes quiet, something Kageyama has learned is, in fact, atypical.   
  
_Oikawa-san?_  
  
 _You know,_ Oikawa says, _I had a lot of the same problems you did, at first. I thought I could pilot a Jaeger well even if I wasn't great at drifting. But then Iwaizumi taught me that a Jaeger is only as strong as the bond between pilots—not on the strength of the pilots alone._  
  
It's the essence of everything Oikawa has been saying the past few days—Kageyama waits, able to sense an oncoming storm (his senses have grown that much, at least).  
  
 _Do you want to understand, Tobio-chan?_ Oikawa asks, and the sweetness of his tone sets Kageyama on edge.  
  
Still—he's not about to shirk away. Not now. _Yes._  
  
He doesn't see Oikawa smile so much as he senses it. _Alright, then._  
  
What follows is a sudden and stark departure from any prior experience Kageyama has had in the drift—instead of meeting in the middle, he feels Oikawa's presence overwhelm their connection, consuming and overpowering Kageyama's in the blink of an eye. After spending the past few days breaking down his defenses, he's a perfect target.  
  
Distantly, he hears the Jaeger technicians talking rapidly over the comms, but he can't understand a word they're saying, not when he can see—can _feel_ —Oikawa poking and prodding and stripping away the layers of his mind until everything is laid bare for him to pick over.   
  
Flashes and fragments play out in his mind's eye, and sometimes he swears he catches one that isn't his, one that must come from Oikawa, but they're always gone before Kageyama can take hold.  
  
 _I told you that the drift was more than giving over your mind, Tobio,_ Oikawa says, cutting through the flurry of memories and images and thoughts. _It's heart, mind, body, soul. That's what Iwaizumi helped me understand._  
  
Later, when Kageyama looks at the telemetry from the session, he'll see how his heart rate spiked, the increase in his adrenaline levels.   
  
He doesn't just feel Oikawa's mind—he feels _Oikawa._ All of him.  
  
 _Exactly,_ Oikawa says. _Anyone that tells you the drift is all in your head is full of shit._  
  
Oikawa recedes, and the storm quiets.   
  
Kageyama suddenly becomes aware of the cockpit again, and he turns to meet Oikawa's eyes, chest still heaving.  
  
 _Can we extend today's session?_ he asks.  
  
He swears Oikawa smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> (another saso, another pacrim au oikage fic. maybe one day i'll write the full-fledged fic it deserves.)


End file.
